Philadelphia Flyers' NHL Season May Soon End Prematurely

By Sean O'Brien

Krys Barch – USA TODAY Sports

The New Jersey Devils would love nothing more than to skate over the Philadelphia Flyers‘ 2012-13 regular season grave. Simply winning both halves of a home-and-home set wouldn’t seal the Bullies’ fate, but it would surely make Peter Laviolette‘s already difficult task that much more challenging.

Other than Jakub Voracek, which Flyers’ player can anyone point to and definitely say that he’s had a terrific season? Obviously, the answer is no one.

There are some other members of the “Orange Order” who have produced decent results during this shortened-season. But, that list of names is hardly deep enough. Thus, this team’s sub-.500 record fits.

While Claude Giroux ranks second in team scoring with 25 points, he’s in the midst of an unbalanced season. One has to wonder if he has been playing with some undisclosed injuries, or is working through lingering concussion-related issues.

Wayne Simmonds is having another steady year, and continues to represent the most consistent part of the Mike Richards‘ trade. His former Los Angeles Kings‘ teammate Brayden Schenn has played a steadier, injury-free game this season, and his progress has been generally encouraging.

Those two young men, Kimmo Timonen‘salways reliable presence, the positive defensive shifts that Ruslan Fedotenko has taken and Luke Schenn‘s blue-line work basically represent the best of the Flyers’ efforts this year.

Obviously, a winning squad needs more than a handful of its players to produce in order for team points to be regularly added to the standings.

All signs point to general manager Paul Holmgren being forced to look toward next season when the trade deadline arrives early next month. Unless the team he has assembled immediately starts a winning streak that lasts somewhere between five and ten games, this season will be over long before the 48-game schedule ends.